Baggage check and clasp



(No Model.)

' J. E. MGLEARY.

BAGGAGB GHBGK AND CLASP. No. 262,080. Patented Aug. 1, 1882.

27'?. JT ffy.

WITNBSSES ATTORNEYS.

- Unita@ States PATENT Errea JAMES H. MCLEARY, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

BAGGAGE CHECK AND CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 262,080, dated August1, .1882. y

Application tiled October 21, 1881. (No model.) i I To alt whom it mayconcern:

Beit known that I, JAMES Il. MCLEARY, of San Antonio,in the county ofBexar andState ot' Texas, have invented a new and usefullmprovelnent linBaggage Checks and Glasps, of which the ibllowing is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, formingpart of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a sideview otthe check, directionplate, and clasp; Fig. 2, a view of the oppositeside ot' the check with the clasp removed; Fig. 3, a view ofthedirection-plate reversed and detached from thecheck; Fig. 4,

a section ofthe check and direction-plate, and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 printedwafers.

My invention relatesto checks for labeling baggage for transportation;and it consists in a novel construction and arra-ngement of a check, adirection-plate, and a clasp for securing said parts to an article ofbaggage, as will be hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a check of circular formconsisting of a solid plate havingan annular lateral tlange near itsrim, to which is secured a plate, a, having an elliptical opening, a.The greatest diameter of the said elliptical opening coincides with thediameter of the plate A inside the said annular ange, and the portionofthe plate or back a which is not thus cut away projects over the solidplate so as to form in connection therewith a hollow casing. Aperforation, b, which is made through the two plates at a pointneartheirouter rim, is designed to receive a metal clasp by means of whichthe check is to be secured to the baggage.

In constructing the check, while the general form above described willbe preferred, the method ot' constructing the same will vary ac cordingto the material employed, since it may be molded of various materials orcast of suitable metal. The face of the check will be stamped with thename of the railroad company or other company or individual by whom thecheck shall be issued, and with a number, by means of which the baggageshall be identiled.

1 also provide a direction plate or tablet, 0, which is of ellipticalform, and of such a size that it may be inserted into the ellipticalopening a in the check. Near each end of this plate is formed a curvedslot, c, which may be made to register with the perforation b in thecheck by turning the said direction-plate within the casing or checkproper, and by means ot' which it shall be secured thereto and to theclasp. One side of this plateis to be stamped with the same number andname as those upon the face of the check, and upon the opposite sidethereof is to be attached a blank tablet or wafer, c', upon which may beWritten in pencil the destination ofthe baggage, it it is on the sameroad with the point of departure, or if it is on a different road thename of the place of departure and destination may both be written onthe wafer. Otherwise, wafers may be prepared with such names of placesprinted thereon, as shown in the drawings, and these can be attached asreadily as a postage-stamp.

Another plate, the fac-simile or duplicate of the last-described plate,is to be given to the passenger as his voucher for the baggage.

For attaching the check to the baggage I employ a clasp, E, whichconsists ot" a piece of round wire bent in an elliptical form, andhaving 011e end provided with an eye, d, and the other bent so as toform a hook, d, the point of which shall be adapted to enter the eyeautomatically when allowed to resume its normal position, after beingpressed open. The hook ot' this clasp is to be inserted into theperforation b in the check and through one of the Vcurved slots in thedirection-plate G, when the check maybe easily passed along the wire toone of the curved portions of the clasp, and

the latter attached to a trunk.

With this construction, and especially with the use of printed labels,the checking of baggage will be greatly facilitated. The wafers orlabels are the only part that will need to be changed, and where blankwafers are used the pencil-marks may be easily erased and otherssubstituted, as the case may require. Everything that is necessary toidentify the baggage is stamped on the metal and only memoranda arecommitted to pencil-marksor printed labels. The plates need not be madeexclusively of metal, but can be of ivory, pasteboard, celluloid, orgutta-percha, or any other suitable material.

Among other advantages secured by my invention the following may bementioned: 1t can be attached to a piece ot' baggage or removedtherefrom in less time than where the ordinary leather strap is used.The direction-plate, Whether made of metal or other materials, is,owingl to its method of attachment, of great durability, and as it isot' the same size and shape as the passengers duplicate it may besubstituted for the duplicate, in case the latter should be lost.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. A baggage-check consisting of a shell having a circular chamber andau opening ot' elongated form leading to said chamber, a.destination-plateof elongated form which is adapt-

